tradeshow blues: part two
i ate dinner at this great afghan restaurant. if i lived here, it could quickly become my favorite food... (look for the restaurant review on puertadelapanza soon.) anyways, after dinner i walked to the hotel where the reggae concert was being held and talked to a friendly, comforting voice on the phone. there's nothing that can downplay the power of the familiar in a place that is anything but.
the weather was crisp with a slight chill. during the walk i met a guy named john who works with a vitamin company, also walking to the hotel. i was supposed to meet one of my colleagues there, but we ended up never connecting. instead, the founder of orange guard engaged me in a fun conversation about the future of organics and the imporance of not using chemicals to kill bugs since his product is natural and "suffocates them."
at the venue, i found a table where chess was being played. i love to play chess. my first teacher, daddy, likes to make really funny expressions when i make a weird or wrong move. it's endearing, even though it lets me know usually that i've screwed up. my second and most recent teacher, johnson, used to be one of my favorite people to talk to about history or philosophy when not playing chess. he now lives in socal. but used to live under the bay bridge. he almost beat steve brandywine once at chess, at the third st. chess corner. he used to get annoyed by me getting distracted while we played. i haven't played in three years at least. and so, i asked the wife of the duo playing if she would like to play me next. i love a challenge and playing chess made this party even better. as she would provide a ruse to tempt me, i would remind myself of my intended end goal and throw her off by doing the opposite of what she was expecting. i have a high tolerance for risk, understanding that you win some games and some you lose. but tonight i won. and it felt great.
i also ended up hooking up with some new friends made at the west coast version of this show, so we sat around chatting, listening to the reggae music and having fun watching the hippies dance. and oh, do they dance!
the weather was crisp with a slight chill. during the walk i met a guy named john who works with a vitamin company, also walking to the hotel. i was supposed to meet one of my colleagues there, but we ended up never connecting. instead, the founder of orange guard engaged me in a fun conversation about the future of organics and the imporance of not using chemicals to kill bugs since his product is natural and "suffocates them."
at the venue, i found a table where chess was being played. i love to play chess. my first teacher, daddy, likes to make really funny expressions when i make a weird or wrong move. it's endearing, even though it lets me know usually that i've screwed up. my second and most recent teacher, johnson, used to be one of my favorite people to talk to about history or philosophy when not playing chess. he now lives in socal. but used to live under the bay bridge. he almost beat steve brandywine once at chess, at the third st. chess corner. he used to get annoyed by me getting distracted while we played. i haven't played in three years at least. and so, i asked the wife of the duo playing if she would like to play me next. i love a challenge and playing chess made this party even better. as she would provide a ruse to tempt me, i would remind myself of my intended end goal and throw her off by doing the opposite of what she was expecting. i have a high tolerance for risk, understanding that you win some games and some you lose. but tonight i won. and it felt great.
i also ended up hooking up with some new friends made at the west coast version of this show, so we sat around chatting, listening to the reggae music and having fun watching the hippies dance. and oh, do they dance!
posted by annelies at 9:17 PM
3 Comments:
happy dancing hippies! yay!
Hey this story had a happy ending so you can't really call it "tradeshow blues," can you?
it's called "tradeshow blues: part two" because it's still part of the same story. and even though the evening went well, that day was a precursor to the vibe of the rest of the show.
az
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